GRAVITY
Co., Ltd. | image = Image:Gravity_logo.png | imagewidth = 250 | type = Public company (NASDAQ: GRVY) | industry = Software & Programming | founded = 2000 April | hq = Seoul, Republic of Korea | people = Hyun Chul Park, Chairman & CEO Seungtaik Baik, COO Jonathan J. Lee, CFO | products = MMORPG and Mobile video games | employees = 501-1000LinkedIn 2015 Sept. 30 | parent = GungHo Online Entertainment | subsidiaries = Gravity Interactive, Inc. Gravity Europe SASU (until 2017) Gravity CIS, Inc. (until 2012) GRAVINDO | website = Gravity Co., Ltd. Korean }} Co., Ltd. (also known as Gravity Corporation) (Korean: 그라비티 주식회사) is a South Korean video game corporation primarily known for the development of the MMORPG Ragnarok Online. History The corporation started as a small business in Shinsa-dong, Kangnam-ku, Seoul, South Korea and has expanded to an international corporate interest with several subsidiary divisions. On 2005 February 8, Gravity Corporation made their initial public offering (IPO) and traded $108 million US dollars on NASDAQ under the ticker symbol GRVY.MSN Money IPO Center - Gravity Co., Ltd. IPO The company has had a rather turbulent history initially involving internal political conflicts between CEO Kim Hakkyu (who eventually left the company), and company president Jung Ryool Kim (who later assumed control as CEO), but has since stabilized and expanded operations to all of north and south-east Asia through supervised partnerships with native corporate entities. However, while Gravity Corporation's flagship product Ragnarok Online is considered a success in Asia, operations are not as well developed in Europe and the United States in comparison to similar products marketed and developed there. On 2005 August 30, Jung Ryool Kim, the controlling shareholder, sold his 52% stake and set plans to quit as a director. The buyers of his shares were Ezer and Techno Groove of Japan, a pair of technology ventures controlled by Il Young Ryu and Taizo and Masayoshi Son. After becoming the new majority shareholder, on 2005 September 13, Il Young Ryu was named by as its new chairman and joint chief executive. Il Young Ryu is also the founder of Area Network Limited and the CEO of Internet Japan. In December of 2006, Techno Groove merged into Asian Groove, and ceased to exist. EZER subsequently returned Techno Groove's investment of 9.9 billion yen to Asian Groove, which gave up any interest in . On 2007 October 19, EZER sold their interest in to Son Assets Management or SAM.19-10-2007 SEC 13-D/A Filing30-08-2005 SEC 13D Filing13-09-2005 SEC 6-K Filing5-11-2007 SEC 13-D Filing On 2006 May 22, announced it had invested $9 Million in US game developer Perpetual Entertainment. Consequently, received a position on Perpetual's board of directors. also received "priority rights for future access to contents and other intellectual property rights of Perpetual Entertainment."22-05-2006 SEC 6-K Filing On 2007 November 21, announced they had lost their investment after Perpetual cancelled its development of the MMORPG Gods and Heroes. The loss would be reflected in their financial statement for 2007.21-11-2007 SEC 6-K Filing In October of 2007, attempted to be more direct with its Ragnarok Online playerbase by launching their own developer blogs in addition to a livestream channel.WordPress BlogBlogSpot BlogUStream Channel Their efforts were short-lived as the developer blogs were discontinued after roughly 4 years. In 2015, a developer notes section was added to the kRO website with the first entries introducing a redone Prontera.kRO Developer Notes On 2007 December 5, announced they had formed a new US-based game developer, L5 Games. L5 is a subsidiary of Gravity Interactive, Inc. and is based in San Mateo, California. The company is composed of former Blizzard Entertainment employees.05-12-2007 SEC 6-K Filing On 2008 February 14, GungHo Online Entertainment obtained 52.4% stake of .Japan's GungHo to acquire S.Korea Gravity majority On 2015 January 15, granted Dream Square a nonexclusive right to develop and distribute mobile games in China by using contents of its principal product, Ragnarok Online. GRAVITY also signed a license agreement with Dream Square, which entitles Dream Square to operate and distribute Ragnarok Online II in China.PR Newswire 2015 Jan. 01 This agreement was amended in March of 2016 to grant Dream Square an exclusive right to develop mobile and web games based on the contents of Ragnarok Online and distribute such games in China for five years from 2016 March 25.SEC Report 2016 Oct. 18 In January of 2016, opened up a branch office in Taiwan to help launch Ragnarok Online: Prequel in Taiwan. The game is planned for release in Taiwan, Hong Kong, North America, and Thailand sometime in 2016.SEC Report 2016 Feb. 22 In March of 2016, the licensing agreement with Gameflier was terminated in preparation for to offer RO directly in the Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau markets.SEC Report 2016 Apr. 23 On 2016 June 7, the official website for the new twRO was launched and registration for the game was opened. Veteran twRO players were given the option to bind their old accounts to their new GnJOY accounts.GRAVITY Taiwan RO Website 2016 Aug. 01 On 2018 July 27, announced the transfer of their stock listing from the NASDAQ Global Market to the NASDAQ Capital Market. The change in stock status goes into effect 2018 August 27.SEC Report 2018 Jul. 31 Diversion of Revenues Under Previous Management From 2002 through 2004, 's chairman Mr. Jung Ryool Kim diverted approximately $6 Million in revenue from the company to himself. In 2005, Kim sold his shares of to EZER, Inc., a Japanese corporation. Kim paid the company back KRW 7.8 billion on 17 October 2005. After an investigation, and Kim reached a final settlement where Mr. Kim would additionally pay "in part to reimburse the Company for certain of the costs and expenses incurred by the Company in connection with the investigation of the former Chairman's diversion of revenues otherwise due to the Company." Both parties agreed to cease any civil and crimial litigation against one another. As a result of the investigation, was forced to restate its financial statements for the years 2002-2004.18-05-2006 SEC 6-K Filing08-2005 SEC 6-K Filing10-2005 SEC 6-K Filing Settlement, Conclusion Of Litigation In 2006, two U.S. based hedge funds created a committee for "fair treatment of minority shareholders" which initiated litigation charging that the majority shareholders and officers have violated their fiduciary obligations. The funds, Moon Capital Management and Ramius Capital Group, both headquartered in New York City, demanded that call an extraordinary general meeting of the shareholders to give them a chance to vote Il Young Ryu out of office. Their demands were in time successful, and a meeting was scheduled for December 26. On 2007 June 11, announced that it and other defendants had reached an agreement in principle to settle the class action litigation brought on behalf of purchasers of the Company's American Depository Shares during the period from 2005 February 7 to 2005 November 10, inclusive. $10 Million was set aside to pay the plaintiffs, $5 Million of which came directly from , in exchange for being released from any liability. However, the company continued to deny any wrongdoing.11-06-2007 SEC 6-K Filing On 2008 January 7, announced that the federal judge presiding over the consolidated class action approved the settlement of the class action. In addition, no plaintiff has filed an appeal during the 30-day time appeal period which expired on 2007 December 21. 07-01-2008 SEC 6-K Filing Game titles The following are games that have been published and/or are currently being developed by . Requiem: Bloodymare Main wiki: Requiem: Bloodymare Requiem: Bloodymare (Korean: 레퀴엠 온라인), often referred to as Requiem, is a MMORPG created by . It was first released in South Korea on 2007 August 31for Microsoft Windows and has since been released in many other locales around the world. Ice Age Online On 2008 January 14, the Company announced an exclusive seven year deal with 20th Century Fox Licensing and Merchandising to develop and publish "Ice Age Online", an online game based on FOX's Ice Age motion picture franchise, but development was halted in 2009(see 20-f form page 46 in 2009)Gravity Developing Ice Age Online Ice Age Online Announced Ragnarok Ragnarok Online (Korean: 라그나로크 온라인), often referred to as RO, is a MMORPG created by based on the manhwa Ragnarok by Lee Myung-jin. It was first released in South Korea on 2002 August 31 for Microsoft Windows and has since been released in many other locales around the world. Much of the game's mythos is based on Norse mythology, but its style has been influenced by Christianity and various Asian cultures as well. The game has spawned an animated series, Ragnarok the Animation, and a sequel game, Ragnarok Online 2: Legend of the Second, which is a remake of Ragnarok Online 2: The Gate of the World is currently in development. It has also spawned a beat'em up game called Ragnarok Battle Offline, which was developed by French Bread, but published by . Ragnarok II Ragnarok Online 2: Legend of the Second (Korean: 라그나로크 온라인 2: Legend of the Second) is an MMORPG created by Corp. of South Korea and is the sequel to the popular MMORPG, Ragnarok Online. Most of the game's universe is based on Norse mythology. The soundtrack was produced by Yoko Kanno, well known for her work in Cowboy Bebop and other anime series. ROSE Main wiki: ROSE Online ROSE Online, or Rush On Seven Episodes Online (Korean: 로즈 온라인) is an MMORPG which was created by Korean company TriggerSoft and was published by Corp. TriggerSoft stopped developing the game in 2007, and the rights of ROSE Online were sold to several different companies which now develop and publish their own versions of the game. For instance, Gravity Interactive, Inc. develops and publishes its version of the game for 3 North American and 40 European countries.2009 Annual Report 2011 Mar. 18 Gameplay is a free roaming typical level-up based MMORPG. You fight monsters, level up, obtain new skills and equipment to better yourself for upcoming battles. You can travel to different planets and explore new environments as well as battle other players and declare wars against other clans guilds. The game features its own in-game economy which is directly controlled by players. PC has also published and/or developed the following PC game titles: * Arcturus - The Curse and Loss of Divinity * Emil Chronicle Online * Paper Man * Pucca Racing * Stylia * Time N Tales Mobile has also published and/or developed the following titles for mobile devices: * Ragnarok Mobile Games * Requiem Mobile * Ragnarok DS GnJOY On 2010 October 15, created and launched GnJOY, ’s official game portal where users will be able to enjoy all of ’s games with one integrated ID. There are also various community features, enabling users to discuss about ’s games and service while getting inside information about gameplays and star gamers. “Joyroom” is a social networking service within GnJOY that each user can create and build up based on individual game experiences and updates.Korea Game Watch 2015 Apr. 21 Subsidiaries owns a number of subsidiary companies, which publish and develop its games in countries and regions around the world. * Gravity Interactive publishes games in North America. It was established in March, 2003, and is based in Buena Park, California.About Gravity Interactive - Gravity KR Website * Gravity Entertainment Corporation is a subsidiary based in Japan.SEC Report 2018 Apr. 27 * Gravity Communications, a new branch office founded to manage GRAVITY games in Taiwan. It was formerly incorporated on 2018 April 13.SEC Report 2018 Apr. 27 * NEOCYON, Inc., established in 2000, develops and publishes mobile games and MMORPGs. It was acquired by in 2005.About Neo Cyon, Inc. - Gravity KR Website15-11-2005 SEC 6-K Filing Former Subsidiaries * TriggerSoft, which created ROSE Online, was acquired by Gravity in 2005. It was liquidated in 2007.2007 Annual Report * Gravity CIS, Inc. publishes games in Russia and CIS countries. It was established in 2005 and is based in Moscow, Russia.About Gravity CIS, Inc. - Gravity KR Website * Gravity Europe SASU publishes games in Europe. It was established in September, 2006, and is based in Paris, France.About Gravity Europe - Gravity KR Website * Gravity Games Corporation was formerly Barunson Interactive, the developers of Dragonica/Dragon Saga. On 2018 March 30, Gravity Games Corporation held an extraordinary shareholders meeting at which the shareholders approved the commencement of a voluntary dissolution of Gravity Games Corporation.SEC Report 2018 Apr. 27 Media Ragnarok Online Dev Team Q&A Ragnarok Online KR 도람족 업데이트, Doram Update Promotion Movie Ragnarok Online KR 도람족 업데이트, Doram Update Promotion trailer Warpportal Weekly Liveshow with special guests from kRO! 라그나로크 에피소드 13.2 "니그호드 던전의 지하용" 업데이트 소개 영상 GRAVITY上市記者會遊戲介紹影片|GRAVITY bringing Ragnarok goodies to its Taiwan playerbase. Ragnarok Online (TW) - Taiwan fans and media meeting 2016 Ragnarok Online KR 14th anniversary Promotion movie RO仙境傳說ONLINE登台直營TVCF（30秒）-HD|TV Commercial for the Taiwan server of RO. RO仙境傳說網頁版 喵族改版事前登錄|Promotion of the Doram update on the new twRO. Ragnarok Online REUNION|Promotion of idRO's new pre-Renewal server. RO仙境傳說ONLINE可愛喵族 全新誕生|Live-action promotion of Doram update for twRO. 2017년 3월 라그나로크 온라인(Ragnarok Online) 좌담회|March 2017 Ragnarok Online Discussion. 2017년 4월 라그나로크 온라인(Ragnarok Online) FGT|April 2017 Ragnarok Online Focus Group Test. Current Stock Status Stock References External Links *Official Gravity Corporation Website *Official Taiwan Branch *Official Indonesia Branch Category:Corporations and Private Companies